Increasing the number of advertising impressions in an interactive environment

ABSTRACT

Increasing a number of advertising impressions in a system configured to facilitate user interaction with an interactive environment containing one or more advertising targets is described. A scene of a portion of the simulated environment is displayed from a camera point of view (camera POV) on a video display. The scene may change as the camera POV changes in response to movement of the camera POV along a camera path during the user&#39;s interaction with the simulated environment. By adding movement to the camera path that directs the camera POV toward one or more advertising targets encountered along the camera path advertising targets may be placed within the scene displayed on the video display to increase a likelihood a number of advertising impressions associated with the advertising targets.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of priority of commonly-assignedco-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/978,689, filedOct. 9, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is related to advertising in an interactive environmentand more particularly to increasing the number of advertisingimpressions in an interactive environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An important criterion for advertisers in determining the effectivenessof an advertising campaign is the number of “impressions” a givenadvertisement makes with a user of interactive entertainment.Impressions refer to the exposure a user has had to an ad or adcampaign. Impressions are typically indexed in to the number of times apotential consumer views a particular advertisement. For example, aprint advertisement located in a kiosk in a shopping center might beviewed by 1,000 shoppers over the course of an afternoon. It could besaid that the particular advertisement enjoyed 1,000 impressions as eachshopper walked past the kiosk and viewed the goods or servicesadvertised therein.

The growth of the Internet and the popularity of interactiveentertainment such as video games have led to opportunities foradvertising within video games. Video games and other forms ofinteractive entertainment have been increasingly popular among membersof demographic groups sought after by advertisers. Consequently,advertisers are willing to pay to have advertisements for their productsand/or services within interactive entertainment, such as video games.

There have been—and continue to be—numerous cases wherein actualadvertisements of advertisers are deployed and displayed within a videogame environment. A classic example is in a driving game, whereinadvertisements are pasted onto billboards around a driving course asillustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,946,664 and 6,539,544, the disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference. With such in-gameadvertising, the software publishing company that creates the video gameidentifies an advertiser, creates texture data based on ad copy providedby the advertiser and places this texture data representative of anadvertisement in the video game environment (i.e., posting theadvertisement on the billboard).

U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,664 to Kan Ebisawa describes the general notion ofusing a network to replacing an asset within a game using a texture,e.g., billboard. Later schemes for calculating a magnitude of anadvertising impressing based on a position of a frustum of a cameraproximity and time exposure to a game asset.

Placement of advertisements in the virtual environments of computervideo games may be enhanced by matching ads to demographic data of thegame player, e.g. as described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,601, whichis incorporated herein by reference. An ad server coordinates thematching of ads to demographic data of the game player and properlyaccommodates ads in formats from game information provided by source ofgame software. Statistics related to ad impressions may be retrievedfrom the game player's computer or console to rate viewing effectivenessfor ad placement confirmation and billing purposes.

There are numerous formulae for determining whether an impression hasoccurred. A typical formula takes into account factors such as (a)whether an advertisement was displayed to the user, e.g., on a videoscreen; (b) how long the ad was visible to the user; (c) where the adappeared on the screen; (d) how large the ad was relative to the size ofthe screen. US Published patent application 20070079331, which isincorporated herein by reference, describes examples of possible systemsand methods for determining advertising impressions in the context of avideo game. Basic schemes for calculating a magnitude or quality of aviewer impression of a game asset may be based on, e.g., a frustum ofthe camera, proximity and exposure to the asset.

The number of advertising impressions generated by a user duringinteractive entertainment is somewhat dependent on the user's activityduring an interactive entertainment session. Consequently, the number ofimpressions generated may vary from one user to another for the sameinteractive entertainment activity. Attempts have been made to enhancethe number of user impressions of video game advertisements by directingthe viewer's attention to the ads. For example, in 1997 in a game calledRTIME Rocks a virtual vector compass pointed the user in the directionof the nearest advertising asset in the game. However, an individualuser may still choose to ignore the compass and valuable advertisingimpressions may be missed as a result.

It is within this context that embodiments of the invention arise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of advertising within a simulatedenvironment.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a simulated environment illustratecontaining an advertisement.

FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of a simulated environment containing anadvertisement illustrating a situation in which an initial camera pathmisses an advertising impression.

FIG. 1D is a schematic diagram of a simulated environment containing anadvertisement illustrating a situation in which in which the initialcamera path of FIG. 1C has been revised by shifting a camera locationand orientation according to an embodiment of the invention in order tocapture an advertising impression that would have been missed had theinitial camera path in FIG. 1C been followed.

FIG. 1E illustrates a schematic diagram of a simulated environmentcontaining an advertisement illustrating a situation in which an initialcamera path misses an advertising impression from an avatarpoint-of-view.

FIG. 1F is a schematic diagram of a simulated environment containing anadvertisement illustrating a situation in which in which the initialcamera path of FIG. 1E has been revised by shifting a camera orientationaccording to an embodiment of the invention in order to capture anadvertising impression that would have been missed had the initialcamera path in FIG. 1E been followed.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting an example of adding movement to thecamera path that directs a camera point-of-view toward one or moreadvertising targets encountered along a camera path in a method forenhancing advertising impressions according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a vector diagram illustrating an example of a situation inwhich an attraction strength is associated with an advertising targetaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example an advertising system for a simulatedenvironment as may be utilized in an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of communication flow between componentsof the advertising system depicted in FIG. 4

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a client deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Although the following detailed description contains many specificdetails for the purposes of illustration, anyone of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate that many variations and alterations to thefollowing details are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly,the exemplary embodiments of the invention described below are set forthwithout any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitationsupon, the claimed invention.

According to embodiments of the present invention, in addition tomovement initiated by user commands and a state of interaction with asimulated environment, movement may also be added to a camera path thatdirects the camera point-of-view toward advertising targets alongencountered along the camera path. These movements may be configured toplace the advertising targets within a field-of-view, referred to hereinas a camera frustum, thereby increasing the likelihood of advertisingimpressions for those targets. In some embodiments, these movements maybe initiated independent of any user-initiated movement commands orinteraction with the simulated environment based on simulated physics.Addition of such movement to the camera path may be particularlydesirable in situations where a relatively slight and/or relativelybrief deviation of the camera path or camera POV is sufficient togenerate an impression of an advertising target that would not have beengenerated absent the deviation.

According to an embodiment, a computer-implemented method for increasinga number of advertising impressions in a system configured to facilitateuser interaction with an interactive environment containing one or moreadvertising targets is provided. FIG. 1A illustrates an example of asimulated environment containing advertising. Examples of suitablesimulated environments include, but are not limited to, video games andinteractive virtual worlds. Examples of virtual worlds are described incommonly assigned U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 11/682,281,11/682,284, 11/682,287, 11/682,292, 11/682,298, and 11/682,299, thecontents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

By way of example, the simulated environment may be generated usingsimulation software 172 running on a user client device 170. Executionof the software 172 on the client device 170 causes images to bedisplayed on the video display 104. The simulated environment mayinclude one or more advertising targets 101. Examples of advertisingtargets are described, e.g., in U.S. Patent Published Patent ApplicationNumber 20070079331, which has been incorporated herein by reference inits entirety for all purposes. A scene 106 displayed to the user U maybe controlled, at least in part, by a camera management system 174operable with the simulated environment. The camera management system174 may be implemented on the client device 170 through suitableconfigured hardware or software.

The camera management system 174 determines a position within thesimulated environment from which the simulated environment is viewed forthe purpose of displaying a portion of the simulated environment. Thedisplayed portion of the simulated environment is referred to herein asa “scene” 106. The camera management system 174 may also determine anangle from which the scene is viewed. Furthermore, the camera managementsystem 174 may also determine limits on the width, height and depth of afield-of-view of the portion of the scene. The scene 106 may be thoughtof as a display of a portion of the simulated environment from aparticular point-of-view within the simulated environment. As shown inFIG. 1B, the scene 106 may be displayed from a point-of-view (cameraPOV) 105 on the video display 104. The scene 106 may encompass thatportion of the simulated environment that lies within a frustum 107 witha virtual camera 109 located at a narrow end thereof. The point-of-view105 is analogous to a position and orientation of a camera photographinga real scene and the frustum 107 is analogous to the field-of-view ofthe camera as it photographs the scene. Because of the aptness of theanalogy, the particular point of view is referred to herein as a camerapoint-of-view (camera POV) and the frustum 107 is referred to herein asthe camera frustum. The camera POV 105 generally includes a location(e.g., x, y, z) of the virtual camera 109 and an orientation (e.g.,pitch, roll and yaw angle) of the virtual camera 109. Changing thelocation or orientation of the virtual camera 109 causes a shift in thescene 106 that is displayed on the video display 104. The cameraorientation may include a viewing direction V. The viewing direction Vmay be defined as a unit vector oriented perpendicular to a center of anarrow face of the camera frustum 107 and pointing into the camerafrustum. The viewing direction V may change with a change in the pitchand/or yaw of the virtual camera 109. The viewing direction V may definethe “roll” axis of the virtual camera 109.

There are a number of different possible configurations for the cameraPOV 105 and camera frustum 107. By way of example, and withoutlimitation, the user' may control an avatar A through which the user Umay interact with the virtual world. The camera POV 105 may be chosen toshow the avatar A within the simulated environment from any suitableangle. Alternatively, the camera POV 105 may be chosen so that the videodisplay 104 presents the scene from the avatar's point of view.

As shown schematically in FIG. 1B, the scene 106 shows that portion ofthe simulated environment that lies within the frustum 107. The scene106 may change as the camera POV 105 changes in response to movement ofthe camera POV 105 along a camera path 111 during the user's interactionwith the simulated environment. The camera path 111 may be representedby a set of data values that represent the location (x, y, z) andorientation (yaw, pitch, roll) of the camera POV 105 at a plurality ofdifferent time increments during the user's interaction with thesimulated environment.

According to embodiments of the present invention movement may be addedto the camera path 111 to direct the camera POV 105 toward one or moreadvertising targets encountered along the camera path. The movementadded to the camera path is configured to place the advertising targets101 within the scene 106 displayed on the video display to increase alikelihood of advertising impressions associated with one or more of theadvertising targets 101. There are a number of factors that determine anadvertising impression. These factors include, among other things,whether an advertising target 101 falls within the camera frustum 107,how close the advertising target is to the camera POV 105, how long theadvertising target remains within the camera frustum 107, whether theuser's view of the advertising target is obscured by other objectswithin the camera frustum 107 and an angle between the view direction Vand a vector that is normal (perpendicular) to a surface of theadvertising target 101. The software 172 may include an advertisingimpression calculation routine that takes these and other factors intoaccount in determining whether an advertising impression has beengenerated as a result of the user's interaction with the simulatedenvironment.

In some simulated environments (e.g., video games) a user may selectand/or manipulate objects that are present in the scene. In embodimentsof the present invention, when a user selects an object the camera POV105 may engage in movement toward the selected object other than astraight line movement to the object of interest but may include tiltsor pans to capture advertising impressions along the way.

The camera management system 174 may automatically generate a view ofthe scene 106 within the simulated environment based on the camera path111. The simulation software 172 may determine the camera path 111partly in to a state of execution of instructions of the software 172and partly in response to movement commands initiated by the user U. Theuser U may initiate such movement commands by way of an interface 114coupled to the client device 170. The displayed scene 106 may change asthe camera POV 105 changes in response to movement of the camera POV 105and camera frustum 107 along the camera path 111 during the user'sinteraction with the simulated environment.

In embodiments of the invention, a user's freedom to manipulate thecamera point of view 105 may be constrained slightly to increase thelikelihood of generating an advertising impression. For example,movement may be added to the camera path 111 independent ofuser-initiated movement commands or interaction with the simulatedenvironment. Alternatively, movement may be added to the camera path 111movement may be added to movement of the camera POV 105 resulting from auser-initiated movement commands or other interaction with the simulatedenvironment. The device 170 may include impression enhancementinstructions 176 that calculate an amount of movement to be added to thecamera path 111 during some interval of time Δt. The impressionenhancement instructions 176 may be implemented in hardware, software orsome combination of hardware and software.

By way of example, and without limitation, the added movement to thecamera path 111 may include a tilt (change in pitch angle) or pan(change in yaw angle) that directs the camera POV 105 toward the one ormore advertising targets 101. Furthermore, the movement added to thecamera path 111 may include adding a displacement to a location (x, y,z) of the camera POV 105 to the camera path. In addition, a rate ofmovement of the camera POV 105 may be reduced for a sufficient period oftime that an advertising target 101 stays visible to the user longenough to generate an impression. As used herein a “rate of movement” ofthe camera POV 105 includes an angular speed of tilt, pan or roll of thecamera POV as well as a rate of change of position of the camera POV 105within the simulated environment.

FIGS. 1C-1D illustrate an example of added camera movement when thecamera POV 105 shows the avatar A in the scene 106. In this example, thecamera POV 105 is chosen to be slightly behind and to one side of theavatar A. The simulation software 172 and/or impression enhancementinstructions 176 may calculate an initial camera path 111 _(i) for atime interval Δt prior to display of the resulting scene during the timeinterval Δt. The initial camera path 111 _(i) may be determined based onsimulation state information including, but not limited to a known sizeand shape of the camera frustum 107, a current location of the cameraPOV 105, a current orientation of the camera POV 105, a velocity of thecamera POV 105, a rate of change of orientation of the camera POV 105 alocation of the avatar A, a velocity of the avatar A, a position andvelocity of the advertising target 101, etc. Furthermore, in someembodiments, the user U may be able to control the camera POV 105through commands issued from the interface 114. Such commands may betaken into account in calculating the initial path 111 _(i) for the timeinterval Δt. Based on this information, future values of the positionand orientation of the camera POV, avatar A and advertising target 101may be determined by known processes of forward projection. Theimpression enhancement instructions 176 may analyze these future valuesto determine if any advertising impressions would be missed during Δt ifthe initial camera path 111 _(i) were to be followed.

In the example illustrated in FIGS. 1C-1D, the initial camera path 111_(i) for time interval Δt would place an advertising target 101 onlypartly within the camera frustum 107. As seen in the inset FIG. 1C, thiswould result in a scene 106 _(i) that would only partially show theadvertising target 101. The impression enhancement instructions 176 maydetermine that an advertising impression would be missed if the initialcamera path 111 _(i). The impression enhancement instructions 176 mayadd movement to the initial camera path 111 _(i) to produce a revisedcamera path 111 _(r) for the time interval Δt that places theadvertising target 101 fully within the camera frustum 107 underconditions that would lead to an advertising impression. For example,the revised camera path 111 _(r) may place the advertising target 101fully within the camera frustum 107, at a viewing angle that is within apredetermined acceptable range, and not obscured by any other objects inthe scene 106 _(r), including the avatar A. The simulation software 172may then use the revised camera path 111 _(r) to generate a scene 106_(r) that is displayed to the user. It is noted that in this example therevised camera path 111 _(r) deviates from the initial camera path 111_(i) in terms of both the location and orientation of the camera POV105.

In some embodiments, the camera POV 105 may be chosen such that thescene 106 is displayed to the user U from the point of view of theavatar A. FIGS. 1E-1F illustrate an example of added camera movementwhen the camera POV 105 shows a scene displayed from an avatar's pointof view. As seen in FIG. 1F, the location of the camera POV 105coincides with a location of the avatar A. As may be seen from the insetin FIG. 1F, an initial scene 106 _(i) shows part of the simulatedenvironment, but does not show the avatar A. It is noted that in thisexample, the location of the camera POV 105 along the initial path 111_(i) follows changes in the location of the avatar A during the timeinterval Δt.

In this example, the initial path 111 _(i) would lead to a situation inwhich an advertising target 101 would not be fully within the camerafrustum 107 and therefore would not be fully visible in the initialscene 106 _(i) during a time interval Δt. The impression enhancementinstructions 176 may add movement to the initial camera path 111 _(i) toproduce a revised camera path 111 _(r) for the time interval Δt thatplaces the advertising target 101 fully within the camera frustum 107under conditions that would lead to an advertising impression. Forexample, the revised camera path 111 _(r) may change the viewingdirection V by an amount sufficient place the advertising target 101fully within the camera frustum 107, at a viewing angle that is within apredetermined acceptable range, and not obscured by any other objects inthe resulting scene 106 _(r). The simulation software 172 may then usethe revised camera path 111 _(r) to generate the scene 106 _(r) that isdisplayed to the user. It is noted that in this example the revisedcamera path 111 _(r) deviates from the initial camera path 111 _(i) interms of the orientation of the camera POV 105 but not in terms of thelocation of the camera POV 105.

It is noted that the impression enhancement instructions 176 may allowthe location of the camera POV 105 may also deviate during the timeinterval Δt. However, this may result in either changing the path forthe avatar A during time interval Δt or changing the location of thecamera POV 105 relative to the avatar during the time interval Δt, orsome combination of both of these. In some situations like that shown inFIGS. 1E-1F, transient movements may sometimes be added to the avatar Aby the simulation software 172 to make the avatar look natural. Incertain embodiments of the present invention such transient effects maybe applied to the avatar A to move its head in the direction of anadvertising target 101. Such transient effects may be applied, e.g.,when the avatar A is not moving or is just walking. These transienteffects may be configured to add movement to the camera POV 105 in thedirection of nearby advertising targets.

There are a number of different ways to determine the amount of movementto add to the camera path 111 in order to direct the camera POV 105toward one or more advertising targets encountered along the camera path111. For example, as seen in FIG. 2, a computer implemented routine 200for adding movement includes determining an initial camera path 111 _(i)for a time interval Δt based on user input and/or a state of theinteractive environment, as indicated at 202 and 204. As discussedabove, such state information may include a location, orientation,velocity and rate of change of orientation of the camera POV 105 atvarious time instances t₁ . . . t_(N) within the time interval Δt. Inaddition, the state information may include positions and/or velocitiesand/or rates of change of orientation of objects within the simulatedenvironment, such as an avatar A, advertising targets 101, and otherobjects.

The initial camera path 111 _(i) may be analyzed at 206 to determinewhether any advertising impressions would be missed for the timeinterval Δt. Preferably, the time interval Δt is longer than a minimumtime necessary to generate an advertising impression. If no missedadvertising impressions are identified at 208, the initial camera path111 _(i) may be used for displaying the scene during the time intervalΔt as indicated at 210. If missed advertising impressions wereidentified at 208, then a deviation δ of the camera path from theinitial camera path 111 _(i) may be calculated as indicated at 212. Thedeviation δ may be configured to capture an impression that would havebeen missed if the initial camera path 111 _(i) were to be followedduring the time interval Δt. For example, the deviation δ may beconfigured such that the revised camera path 111 _(r) places anadvertising target 101 within a frame of the video display for asufficient time and at a sufficient resolution and viewing angle togenerate an advertising impression.

By way of example, the deviation δ may be represented by a set ofvectors δ₁ . . . δ_(N). Each vector δ₁ . . . δ_(N) may be associatedwith a corresponding one of the time instances t₁ . . . t_(N) within thetime interval Δt. By way of example, a given vector δ_(j) within the setof vectors δ₁ . . . δ_(N) may include a plurality of components. Eachcomponent represents an amount of deviation of a component of theinitial camera path 111 _(i) at the corresponding time instance t_(j).For example, the initial camera path 111 _(i) may be represented by aplurality of vectors P_(i1) . . . P_(iN). Each given vector P_(ij) mayincludes components that describe the location, orientation and rate ofchange of location and orientation of the camera POV 105 at acorresponding instance of time t_(j) in the time interval Δt. By way ofexample and without loss of generality, the components of the vectorP_(ij) may include x_(ij), y_(ij), z_(ij), v_(ijx), v_(ijy), v_(ijz),θ_(ijyaw), θ_(ijpitch), θ_(ijroll), ω_(ijyaw), ω_(ijpitch), andω_(ijroll), where:

x_(ij), y_(ij), z_(ij) are the x, y and z components of the position ofthe camera POV 105 in the initial camera path 111 _(i) at time instancet_(j);

v_(ijx), v_(ijy), v_(ijz), are the x, y, and z components of thevelocity of the camera POV 105 in the initial camera path 111 _(i) attime instance t_(j);

θ_(ijyaw), θ_(ijpitch), θ_(ijroll) are the yaw, pitch and rollcomponents of the orientation of the camera POV 105 in the initialcamera path 111 _(i) at time instance t_(j); and

ω_(ijyaw), ω_(ijpitch), ω_(ijroll) are the rates of change of the yaw,pitch and roll components of the orientation of the camera POV 105 attime instance t_(j).

The components of a given deviation vector δ_(j) may similarly includeδx_(j), δy_(j), δz_(j), δv_(jx), δv_(jy), δv_(jz), δθ_(jyaw),δθ_(jpitch), δθ_(jroll), δω_(jyaw), δω_(jpitch), and δω_(jroll), where:

δx_(j), δy_(j), δz_(j) represent the amount of deviation added tox_(ij), y_(ij), z_(ij);

δv_(jx), δv_(jy), δv_(jz) represent the amount of deviation added tov_(ijx), v_(ijy), v_(ijz);

δθ_(jyaw), δθ_(jpitch), δθ_(jroll) represent the amount of deviationadded to θ_(ijyaw), θ_(ijpitch), θ_(ijroll); and

δω_(jyaw), δω_(jpitch), and δω_(jroll) represent the amount of deviationadded to ω_(ijyaw), ω_(ijpitch), and ω_(ijroll)

The components of the deviations δ₁ . . . δ_(N) added to thecorresponding initial camera path vectors P_(ij) to produce a revisedcamera path 111 _(r), e.g., made up of vectors P_(r1) . . . P_(rN). Byway of example, for each time instance t_(j), the correspondingP_(rj)=P_(ij)+δ_(j).

Missed impressions may be identified, e.g., by analyzing the componentsof the initial camera path vectors P_(ij) and similar vectors for theadvertising targets 101, avatar A and obstacles and identifying asituation in which an advertising target 101 would be at least partlyvisible in the scene displayed on the video display 104 during theinterval δt but not sufficiently visible to generate an advertisingimpression. For example, an advertising impression may be missed if theadvertising target is sufficiently obscured by another object in thedisplayed scene that an advertising impression would not be generated.Alternatively, an impression might not be generated if the advertisingtarget is not visible in the scene displayed for a sufficient time togenerate an advertising impression, Furthermore, an impression might notbe generated if the advertising target is visible at too large a viewingangle to generate an advertising impression. As used herein, the termviewing angle refers to an angle between the viewing direction V of thecamera POV 105 and a direction normal (i.e., perpendicular) to a surfaceof an advertising target 101. If this viewing angle is too large,advertising material on the target 101 may not be sufficientlydiscernable to generate an advertising impression. In addition, animpression might not be generated if the advertising target is visiblebut with insufficient resolution to generate an advertising impression.This may occur, e.g., if the advertising target 101 is too far away fromthe camera POV 105. As a result, the advertising target 101 will appearsmaller on the video display and there may not be enough pixels in theimage of the advertising target 101 for the user U to discern theadvertising content. It is noted that an impression might not begenerated for some combination of two or more of the foregoing reasons.

Identifying missed impressions may also include identifying a situationin which an advertising target 101 would be outside a frame of the scene106 displayed on the video display during the time interval Δt, but issufficiently close to the camera path that, with a relatively, smalldeviation of the camera path 111 _(i), the advertising target could beplaced in the frame: (a) without being obscured by another object in thescene displayed on the video display to a degree that an advertisingimpression would not be generated, (b) for a sufficient time to generatean advertising impression, (c) at a viewing angle small enough togenerate an advertising impression, and (d) with sufficient resolutionto generate an advertising impression. It is noted that an example of arelatively small deviation of the camera path is one that would notcause the scene displayed on the video display to appearnausea-inducing, jarring or unnatural to the user as a result of thedeviation.

Furthermore, the deviation δ from the initial camera path 111 _(i)calculated at 212 may include a shift in a location (x, y, z) of thecamera POV 105 and/or a tilt and/or pan angle of the camera POV 105 thatwould place an advertising target 101 associated with a missedimpression within a frame of the scene 106 displayed on the videodisplay 104 (a) without being obscured by another object in the scenedisplayed on the video display to a degree that an advertisingimpression would not be generated, (b) for a sufficient time to generatean advertising impression, (c) at a viewing angle small enough togenerate an advertising impression, and (d) with sufficient resolutionto generate an advertising impression.

It is noted that while it is desirable for the revised camera path 111_(r) to generate an advertising impression, it is also desirable toavoid detrimentally affecting the user's experience of the simulatedenvironment. For example, in a video game, deviations that take theviewer's attention away from the action taking place within the contextof the game may annoy some users. Furthermore, certain deviations mayalter the displayed scene in an unnatural manner, e.g., too rapidly orin unexpected directions. Such deviations may degrade the user'sexperience of the simulated environment. Users may find such deviationsto be nausea-inducing, jarring or unnatural.

The components of the deviations δ₁ . . . δ_(N) may be limited in amanner calculated to avoid displaying the scene in way that would appearnausea-inducing, jarring or unnatural to the user. By way of example,limits may be placed on the total amount of deviation in the position(x, y, z) and/or orientation (θ_(yaw), θ_(pitch), θ_(roll)) that maytake place over the course of the time interval Δt. In addition, limitsmay be placed on the values of the velocity (v_(x), v_(y), v_(z)) andrate of change of orientation (ω_(yaw), ω_(pitch), ω_(roll)) for anygiven time instance t_(j) within the time interval Δt. Such limits maybe determined empirically through experimentation during development ofa game title. Avoiding nausea-inducing, jarring, or unnatural cameramovements may take on other forms. For example, in the case illustratedin FIGS. 1C-1D the impression enhancement instructions 176 may take intoaccount the fact that the avatar A should also be displayed in the scene106 _(r) in order to avoid an unnatural movement in the scene 106 _(r).Thus, the position and movement of the avatar A may be taken intoaccount in restricting the amount of movement that may be added to theinitial camera path 111 _(i) so that the avatar A remains within theframe of the scene displayed.

The deviation δ may be analyzed at 214 to determine whether displayingthe scene 106 according to the revised camera path 111 _(r) during thetime interval Δt would cause the scene to appear nausea-inducing,jarring or unnatural to the user if displayed on the video display 104.As indicated at 216, the scene may be displayed according to the revisedcamera path 111 _(r) during the time interval Δt if it is determined at214 that displaying the scene according to the revised camera pathduring the time interval Δt would not cause the scene displayed on thevideo display to appear nausea-inducing, jarring or unnatural to theuser. The scene may be displayed according to the initial camera path111 _(i) during the time interval Δt if it is determined that displayingthe scene according to the revised camera path 111 _(r) during the timeinterval Δt would cause the scene to appear nausea-inducing, jarring orunnatural to the user U as displayed on the video display 104.

After the camera path for the interval Δt has been established, thecamera management system 174 may use the camera path to determine thescene 106 that is displayed on the video display 104. During this time,the camera path for a subsequent time interval Δt may be determined asindicated at 218.

The degree to which the camera path 111 deviates in response to thepresence of advertising targets may be based on such factors asproximity of the camera frustum 107 to an advertising target 101, therelative velocity between the camera frustum 107 and advertising target,the view direction V and the direction of the normal to the surface ofthe advertising target 101. By way of example, a field of attraction maybe associated with an advertising target 101. The field of attractionmay be used to determine the deviation δ applied to the initial path 111_(i). In one embodiment the field of attraction may be configured todirect the camera POV 105 to point toward an advertising target 101 asthe camera frustum 107 passes close to the advertising target. The fieldof attraction may be configured such that the resulting attraction ofthe camera frustum is non-uniform. For example, the field of attractionfor an asset may be configured to more strongly attract the camerafrustum in situations where the asset lies just outside the camerafrustum and not attract at all if the camera frustum is heading awayfrom the asset, or a deviation toward the asset would not produce animpression. For example, a deviation that would result in viewing theasset at highly oblique angle might not generate an impression.

The field of attraction of an asset may be customized to the angle ofapproach and speed of approach of the camera frustum. In someembodiments, the camera frustum may slow down slightly to generate animpression. For example, as seen in FIG. 3 the field attraction of anadvertising target 101 may be understood in terms of a relativedisplacement vector R between the camera POV 105 and the target 101, theunit viewing direction vector V, a normal unit vector n associated withthe target 101, a velocity vector v of the camera POV 105, and arelative velocity vector v_(rel). The relative displacement vector R hasa magnitude determined from a distance R between the camera POV 105 anda center of the advertising target 101. The direction of the relativedisplacement vector R is a unit vector r along a line through the cameraPOV 105 and the center of the advertising target 101 pointing from thecamera POV 105 toward the advertising target 101. The normal unit vectorn is oriented perpendicular to a surface of the advertising target 101.The relative velocity vector v_(rel) has a magnitude equal to a timerate of change of the distance R and a direction determined from therate of change of the relative displacement vector R. Alternatively, therelative velocity may be determined from a vector difference between thecamera velocity v_(c) and a velocity v_(A) of the advertising target101, e.g., v_(rel)=v_(c)−v_(A). It is noted that the direction of thenormal unit vector n may be different for different points on thesurface of the target 101 if the surface is not flat, e.g., as shown forthe cylindrical advertising target 101′.

By way of example, an optimum situation for generating an advertisingimpression may be one in which, among other things, the view direction Vthe camera POV velocity vector v, the relative displacement vector R,and the relative velocity vector v_(rel) are all aligned with each otherand are 180 degrees opposite the normal vector n. It is noted that insuch a an ideal situation, the dot products of unit vectors representingthe directions of V, R, v_(c) and v_(rel) with respect to each other areall equal to one and dot products of such unit vectors with the normalunity vector n are all equal to minus one. Thus, the strength ofattraction of the target 101 for the camera frustum 107 may be based onthe dot products of these unit vectors and an attraction strength Sassociated with each advertising target 101. In particular, thedeviation calculation 212 may iteratively attempt to determine values ofthe deviation vectors δ₁ . . . δ_(N) that make the dot products of theunit vectors representing the directions of V, R, v and v_(rel) withrespect to each other as close to one as possible during the intervalΔt. Furthermore the deviation calculation 212 may iteratively attempt todetermine values of the deviation vectors δ₁ . . . δ_(N) that make thedot products of the unit vectors representing the directions of V, R,v_(c) and v_(rel) with respect to the unit normal vector n other asclose to minus one as possible during the interval Δt.

The dot products may be used as part of the process of determiningwhether a calculated deviation δ would be acceptable at 214. Forexample, if the dot product between the view direction V and the unitnormal n is zero, the view direction is at right angles to the normal n.In such a situation, any deviation that would tend to point the cameraPOV 105 toward the advertising target to capture an impression might beso abrupt and so large as to be jarring, nausea-inducing or unnatural.Furthermore, if the dot product between the viewing direction V and therelative displacement vector R is negative and the dot product betweenthe camera POV velocity v_(c) and the relative displacement vector R isnegative it may be deduced that the camera POV is pointing away from andmoving away from the target 101. In such a situation, any deviation thatwould tend to point the camera POV 105 toward the advertising target tocapture an impression might be so abrupt as to be jarring,nausea-inducting or unnatural.

In embodiments of the present invention, the value of the deviationvectors δ₁ . . . δ_(N) may be determined by applying weights to the dotproducts and attempting to optimize the resulting weighted dot products.The weights may be based on an attraction strength S associated with theadvertising target 101. The weights may take into account numerousfactors associated with generating an advertising impression. Forexample, the weights may all be set to zero if the distance R is eithertoo large or too small for an impression to be generated. The weightsmay be set closer to one if the distance R is in within some optimumrange for which relatively small deviations can make a differencebetween generating an advertising impression or not. The values of theweights may also depend on the values of the dot product so thatstrength of deviation tends to weaken with large viewing direction V andthe normal n and/or large angles between R and v_(rel). In certainembodiments, the strength of the field of attraction, e.g., the valuesof the weights, may be sold as part of the cost of placing the ad assetin the simulated environment. For example, in an extreme case, theweights may all be set to zero so that all δ₁ . . . δ_(N)=0, if theweights are not paid for.

Advertising impressions associated with one or more of the advertisingtargets 101 during the user's interaction with the simulated environmentmay be recorded and a number of advertising impressions recorded duringthe user's interaction with the simulated environment may be reported toa reporting server as part of an advertising system associated with thesimulated environment. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of in-gameadvertising system 100 as may be utilized in association withembodiments of the present invention. The in-game advertising system 100of FIG. 4 comprises a network 110. The Network 110 may be, for example,a cable television network, a broadband wireless network or on opticalfiber network. Embodiments of the present invention do not impose anylimitation with regard to the particular type of communicationmedium(s), whether the network is homogeneous (e.g., end-to-endwireless) or whether the network is proprietary, open or a combinationof the two. The network 110 only need provide the means to communicateamongst the various servers and/or terminals coupled to the network 110and make up the advertising system 100 of an embodiment of the presentinvention. The network 110 may be a communications network, a datanetwork or a combination of the two. The network 110 may be a local areanetwork or wide area network such as the Internet. The network 110 maybe implemented, e.g., using an infrastructure, such as that used forCATV bi-directional networks, ISDN or xDSL high speed networks to enablenetwork connections for implementing certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

As shown in FIG. 4, a content server 120 is communicatively coupled tothe network 110. The content server 120 may provide content for asimulated environment as offered by a content provider. An advertisingserver 130 as offered by an advertising agency is also communicativelycoupled to the network 110. The advertising server 130 may comprise orbe coupled to an advertising database 140 containing advertisementinformation data. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the system 100may further comprises content authors 150 ₁ . . . 150 _(N), advertisers160 ₁ . . . 160 _(N), and end-user client devices 170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N).Some embodiments of the system 100 may further comprise a paymentprocessing center 180 and an advertising content creator 190.

The content server 120 may distribute digital content for a simulatedenvironment. By way of example, and without loss of generality, contentmay be requested from networked devices operating in a gaming network.In one embodiment, the content may be requested by end-user clientdevices 170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N). The content distributed by content server120 may comprise video game content (e.g., actual video games, orportions thereof, accessed by end-user client devices 170 ₁ . . . 170_(N)) as well as other forms of digital media (e.g., music and video).The content server 120 may further provide for the storage of digitalcontent. The content server 120 may store such content locally (e.g., aspart of a storage area network) or at a location physically remote fromthe content server 120 but otherwise communicatively coupled to theserver 120 thereby allowing for retrieval and transmission of thecontent to end-user client devices 170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N). Content servedby the content server 120 may be served as the result of a push or pulloperation.

The advertising server 130, as previously noted, may be managed by anadvertising agency providing for the distribution of advertising contentto larger audiences (e.g., end-users). The advertising server 130 mayserve audio, video, audio/video and still image content. Content servedby the advertising server 130 may be served as the result of a push orpull transaction. The advertising database 140 is a repository foradvertising content such as the aforementioned video and audio content.Such content may be stored in digital or analog form. While advertisingimages are the most prevalent type of advertising content, advertisingcontent may further comprise element types such as programs, objects,state data, control data, textures, bitmap images, compressed images,sequencing data, authentication data, public key and private key. Theadvertising database 140 may be integrated with the advertising server130 or may be physically remote from the advertising server 130 but isotherwise configured to provide communicative coupling that allows forthe retrieval of content from the database 140 for subsequenttransmission to end-user client devices 170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N), e.g., viathe network 110.

Content authors 150 ₁ . . . 150 _(N) are those entities that developcontent for distribution to end-users, for example, video games. Contentauthors 150 ₁ . . . 150 _(N) may also develop audio, video and/oraudio/video content. Content developed by content authors 150 ₁ . . .150 _(N) may be generated in any form of media. For example, content maybe developed in an optical disk format or in non-volatile memory such asa flash card. Content may also be provided in a pure data format to betransmitted and hosted by another party. For example, content author 150₁ . . . 150 _(N) may develop a video game but never commerciallydistribute the content in a physical form of media. Instead, the contentmay be FTP'd or otherwise transmitted to content server 120 and storedin an appropriate storage means for subsequent delivery to end-userclient devices 170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N).

Advertisers 160 ₁ . . . 160 _(N) may be any entity seeking to place anadvertisement in the digital content created by any of the contentauthors 150 ₁ . . . 150 _(N). An advertiser may be from any field ofendeavor and need not necessarily be in the entertainment or video gameindustry.

The end-user client devices 170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N) are those devicesallowing an end-user to access digital content. For example, in the caseof a video game, the appropriate end-user client device 170 ₁ . . . 170_(N) may include one or more home entertainment video game systems suchas a PlayStation3 from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. In the instanceof digital content being, for example, an on-demand movie or other videoprogram, the end-user client devices 170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N) may includeone or more set-top cable boxes. The end-user client devices 170 ₁ . . .170 _(N) may include a portable device that may be temporarily coupledto a more permanent device (e.g., a desktop computer) to allow for thetransfer or updating of digital content via a USB cable as would be thecase in, for example, a portable music device such as an MP3 player.Each client device 170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N) may include simulation software172 such as video games developed by one or more of the content authors170 ₁ . . . 170 _(N). The simulation software may include an impressionenhancement instructions 176 that calculate an amount of movement to beadded to the camera path 111 during some interval of time Δt to enhanceadvertising impressions as described above.

The optional payment processing center 180 is configured to allow forthe execution of various payment and/or monetary transfer transactions.These payments may be achieved, for example, through direct deposit,automatic funds or wire transfers as is appropriate and/or available.The payment processing center 180 may, for example, be associated with abank offering these services. In another example, the payment processingcenter 180 may be associated with an on-line escrow agentcommunicatively coupled to a variety of banks wherein the escrow agentinstructs and/or receives notice of various monetary transactions onbehalf of various entities in the in-game advertising system 100 (e.g.,advertisers 160 ₁ . . . 160 _(N) and content authors 150 ₁ . . . 150_(N)).

The advertising content creator 190 is an entity that authors and/ordevelops advertisements on behalf of advertisers 160 ₁ . . . 160 _(N)for placement into digital content. In some instances, the advertisingcontent creator 190 may only digitally author content. For example,certain advertising copy (be it audio, video, print or any combinationof the three) may have already been created in a non-digital format. Inthose instances, advertising content creator 190 may manipulate (e.g.,digitize) the advertising copy so that it may be placed into the greatercontext of digital content that is offered by the content server 120. Inother instances, advertising content creator may take a script for anadvertisement and create the same (e.g., film video, record audio andthen combine the two with various special effects). Advertising contentcreator 190 may also utilize program objects and program scriptsincluding commands related to special effects, program elements, controlsignals, messaging and various protocols. In still other instances,advertising content creator may develop advertisement campaigns fromscratch (e.g., the advertising concept for a campaign) and subsequentlycreate the ad content to correspond to that campaign.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of flow of communication 500 among thecomponents of the advertising system 100. For the purpose of example, asingle content author 150, advertiser 160 and end user 170 are shown inFIG. 5. Those of skill in the art will recognize that the communicationflow 500 depicted in FIG. 5 may be extended to situations having pluralcontent authors, advertisers and end users. A content author 150provides the advertising server 130 with advertisement structureinformation 152 in step 205. The content and makeup of the advertisementstructure information is discussed in the context of FIG. 4 of US PatentApplication Publication 20070079331, which has been incorporated hereinby reference. The advertisement structure information may be registeredin the advertising database 140 of the advertisement server 130. Theoperator of the advertisement server 130 informs an advertiser 160 ofadvertisement information 132 such as title, contents, etc., of anewly-registered game title or other simulated environment asset ininforming step 211. Informing of the advertiser 160 may occur bytraditional mail, electronic mail, listservs, SMS, instant messenger,chat or any other available communication medium.

At this stage, the ad server 130 may offer and the advertiser 160 mayaccept the option of an advertising impression enhancement feature asdescribed above with respect to the impression enhancement instructions176. In particular, the advertisement information 132 may includeinformation regarding whether, how, and how strongly a user's view of asimulated environment generated with the digital contents will beinfluenced by the presence of assets associated with advertisementcontent in that simulated environment. The advertisement information 132may include a price structure for enabling the advertising impressionenhancement instructions for advertising content that the advertiser 160wishes to place within the simulated environment.

The advertiser 160 may access the advertisement server 130 and may viewthe advertisement information 132 in viewing step 215 and further applyfor an advertisement buy from, for example, a web-browser screen inapplication step 220. Once the advertiser 160 has been established,advertiser specified information 162 such as advertiser name, time slot,and time period of an advertisement are provided to an appropriatecontent author 150 from the advertisement server 130 in notificationstep 225. Notification may occur by traditional mail, electronic mail,listservs, SMS, instant messenger, chat or any other availablecommunication medium.

The advertiser specified information 162 and advertisement structureinformation 152 may also be supplied to the advertisement contentcreator 190 via the advertisement server 130 in ordering step 230. Theadvertisement content creator 190 creates advertisement content 192(e.g., the advertisement) based on the advertiser specified informationand advertisement structure information. Completed advertisement content192 such as bitmap data or other graphic, audio and/or video data may bedelivered by the advertisement content creator 190 to the advertisementserver 130 in delivery step 235.

Notification of the receipt of the completed advertisement iscommunicated by the advertisement server 130 to the advertiser 160 incompletion step 240 by traditional mail, electronic mail, listservs,SMS, instant messenger, chat or any other available communicationmedium.

The advertiser 160 may view the completed advertisement information 192on the advertisement server 130 in viewing/approval step 245. If theadvertiser 160 approves of the completed advertisement content 192corresponding to the completed advertisement information (e.g., bypressing an ‘OK’ button in a web-interface), the advertisement contentis confirmed and an itinerary 134 may be sent by the advertisementserver 130 to the content author 150 by traditional mail, electronicmail, listservs, SMS, instant messenger, chat or any other availablecommunication medium in delivery detail confirmation step 250. Theitinerary 134 delivered in step 250 may comprise information related tothe advertiser, time slot, period, advertising fees and so forth. Inembodiments of the invention, the itinerary 134 may include informationregarding whether, how, and how strongly a user's view of a simulatedenvironment generated with the digital contents will be influenced bythe presence of assets associated with the advertisement content 192 inthat simulated environment.

In registration step 255, the content provider 120 may correlate certainadvertising information 136 and advertisement content 192 with digitalcontent 122 to be delivered. That is, the content provider 120recognizes that particular advertisements are to be delivered withparticular portions of digital content and so forth. This correlation ofinformation may comprise authoring new derivative files reflecting bothadvertisement information and digital content/advertising programs), theembedding of metadata 124 in the digital content 122 or theimplementation of object oriented programming wherein certain data files(e.g., digital contents/advertising programs) call upon other distinctfiles (e.g., advertising information 136).

The metadata 124 may also comprise information as it pertains toadvertising information 136 such as how long a game character must bepresent within an impression area defined within the video game. Themetadata 124 may further provide information defining the parameters ofthe impression area and certain quality factors as are discussed herein.

Tracking parameters and feedback information and/or instructions mayfurther be imbedded in the metadata of an advertisement. Suchinformation may also be contemporaneously downloaded with theadvertising information 136 as a separate file whereby the advertisinginformation calls upon certain information related to impressions,reporting and so forth.

A user accesses and/or requests digital content 122 for a simulatedenvironment (e.g., a driving simulation video game) using an end-userclient device 170 in content application step 260. As a result of theapplication for content, the user may start to download the digitalcontent 122 in download step 265. Alternatively, if the user already hasa particular portion of the digital content 122, this step may involvepresenting the user with an update as to that content. This step mayalso comprise unlocking digital content that is already in possession ofthe user. Step 265 may also involve authenticating removable media,accommodating registration with a game network or a game ‘lobby’ or‘waiting room’ and so forth

In some embodiments of the present invention, the user may accessdigital content using permanent physical media (e.g., an optical disc).The physical media may have embodied thereon instruction for accessingthe present advertising system 100 as it pertains specifically toadvertising content versus actual simulated environment data, e.g.,video game data. In additional embodiments of the present invention, theuser may access a combination of advertising content and actualsimulated environment data via the system 100 (e.g., new advertisingcontent and new game levels published after the initial release of thegame on physical media). Such embodiments are discussed in furtherdetail below.

During the download of content and/or advertisements in step 265, thecontent provider 120 notifies the advertisement server 130 of thedownload request as it relates to particular advertising material instep 270, such correlations between content and advertising havingpreviously been made in registration step 255. The advertisement server130 then transmits the necessary advertisement data 196 corresponding tothe user download to the content provider 120 in step 275. If necessary,the advertising data 196 provided to content provider 120 can be updatedover time relative the content being downloaded (e.g., new ad copy). Inembodiments of the present invention, the advertising data 196 includesinformation pertaining to whether, in what manner, and how strongly auser's view of a simulated environment generated with the digitalcontent 122 will be influenced by the presence of assets associated withthe advertisement content 192 in that simulated environment.

After downloading the digital contents (including advertisementinformation or content in ad information delivery step 275), the user(through end-user client device 170) renders the advertisement content192 within the simulated environment associated with the digital content122, the advertisement information having been provided viaadvertisement server 130. As noted above, some embodiments of thepresent invention may access solely advertising information or acombination of new simulated environment content and advertisinginformation rather than an entire game.

During the user's interaction with the simulated environment via theend-user client device 170, the user's view of the simulated environmentmay be subtly influenced by the presence of advertisement content 192.This subtle alteration is designed to slightly shift the user's view ofthe simulated environment so that advertising impressions are enhanced,e.g., as described above.

The state of the advertisement, such as the number of distributions orimpressions made, may be provided to the advertisement server 130 and,if necessary or desired, to the advertiser 160 in advertisement statusnotification step 280 so that certain determinations made be made, forexample, the success of an ad campaign with regard to the number ofimpressions made.

As a result of the notification in step 270, the advertisement server130 may track the advertisements that have been or are being downloadedto the end-user client device 170. Utilizing certain advertisingimpression and tracking methodologies as discussed in US Publishedpatent application 20070079331, the advertisement server 130 may receivefeedback in connection with advertisement impressions. Informationconcerning impressions or other advertisement feedback may be generatedat the end-user client device 170, which may be configured with thenecessary software to either directly or indirectly implement impressiontracking.

Direct impression tracking may be based on software configured at theend-user client device 170 and that operates in conjunction with asimulated environment kernel and is further configured to participate innetwork communications such that textures and objects or indexes totextures and objects related to an advertising campaign may be received.The tracking software may directly monitor the angle and position ofvarious advertising asserts with respect to changing camera perspectivespresented to the user who controls the camera perspective utilizing agame controller. Indirect impression tracking may occur through a serveror a session master client in a peer-to-peer network participating,facilitating, arbitrating or interrogating functions associated with thecampaign program (e.g., extraction of data necessary to yield thedetermination of an ad impression). Hence, ad impression determinationsmay occur at, for example, ad server 130 or advertiser 160 in responseto information generated or signals sent from the end-user client device170.

Ad impression data may be batched or transmitted over the network atperiodic intervals. Transmission of impression data may occur inaccordance with a schedule or in conjunction with other processes ortransmissions used to facilitate game play or other interaction with thesimulated environment. Impression data may also be streamed or pulledduring an inquiry received over the network. Any network element of theadvertising system 100 may facilitate or influence the transmission ofimpression data.

Advertisement impressions may be calculated in various ways. Forexample, an advertisement located in a virtual kiosk in a virtualshopping center might be viewed by 1,000 gamers over the course of anafternoon. It could be said that the particular advertisement enjoyed1,000 impressions as each gamer walked their gaming character past thekiosk and viewed the goods or services advertised therein. Impressionsmay also be calculated through a time threshold index. For example, animpression may be earned, triggered, counted or computed after a userhas been exposed to the advertisement for a particular period of time.For example, an impression may occur after 30 seconds of exposure by theuser to an advertisement. The impression may also be tracked andcomputed based on one or more user's continuous or distributed exposuresto the advertisement on the virtual kiosk or as part of an overall adcampaign.

The advertisement content receiving, impression tracking and impressiondata feedback transmission systems of the present invention may residein a single software element or in multiple software elements. Softwareelements may be distributed in whole, or part, on one or more processorsor across a local or wide area network.

Impression enhancing software and impression tracking software may beprovided as a result of downloading a necessary software module duringdownload step 265 or the software having been installed directly onphysical media (e.g. an optical disk) read by the end-user client device170 or, alternatively, installed directly in the end-user client device170. Impression enhancement or impression tracking software or variouscomponents of the software may also be installed in the various othercomponents of the advertising system 100 dependent upon the particularconfiguration of an embodiment.

Similar or identical advertisement state information may be provided tocontent author 150. This notification is made so that the advertiser 160may be properly invoiced by the contents author 150 in accordance withany number of payment plans as are discussed herein. The advertisementserver 130 may further provide this information to payment processingcenter 180 to allow for automatic billing and payment in step 285. Thesepayments may be achieved, for example, through direct deposit, automaticfunds or wire transfers or any other money transfer methodology as isappropriate and/or available.

The advertising system 100 as described with respect to FIG. 4 may beimplemented over various communication and data networks.

It should be noted that in some embodiments of the present invention,certain elements of the in-game advertising system 100 may be combinedor removed from the system 100 entirely without compromising theoperations of the system 100. For example, an embodiment of the in-gameadvertising system 100 as described herein may function without the needfor a payment processing center 180 as proper remuneration of parties inthe system 100 may have been established before hand or subject toanalysis of certain information after advertisement delivery. Similarly,the ad server 130 and related database 140 may be operated inconjunction with the advertisement content creator 190 or with contentprovider 120. Various approval and notification steps may also beomitted in the course of FIG. 4 so long as ad buys remain reserved, asis discussed in the context of tagging with respect to FIG. 3 of U.S.Patent Application publication 20070079331, which has been incorporatedherein by reference, and the proper advertisements delivered relativethose tagged assets. Additionally, exchanges of data or variousnotifications described above may be of a dual-direction or exchangedbetween various components of system 100. For example, variousnotifications may be delivered to the ad server 130 in addition by thead server 130. In that regard, the present invention is not meant to belimited by the exemplary data flows as depicted in FIG. 5.

While FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an in-game advertising system 100 whereincontent and advertising were both provided to an end-user client device170 over the network 110, in some embodiments, a user may play a game asembodied on a physical media such as an optical disk as may be utilizedin, for example, a PlayStation3 gaming console or for use in a desktopcomputer (e.g., to be inserted into a CD-ROM drive). In these instances,various libraries related to the game (e.g., character generation, userinterfaces, recognition of user controls and so forth) may be authoredand stamped directly onto the physical media instead of accessed ordownloaded via content provider 120.

In such an embodiment, advertising content may be embodied on thephysical media as well. As has been previously noted, however, suchadvertising schemes may be ineffective if the popularity of a game turnsout to be overrated (wherein an ad buy was likely overpriced) orunderrated (wherein an ad buy was likely under priced). Similarly, therelevance of certain advertisements may expire over the course of time(e.g., an advertised event occurs, the advertiser stops selling theproduct or goes out of business or the advertisements are mockadvertisements pertaining to a fictitious product but remain relevant inthe context of the game despite the passage of time).

In such physical media, a software client may be embodied in thephysical media, the software client comprising operating routines,resources, instructions and so forth that allow an end-user clientdevice 170 reading the optical media or other physical media to accessthe advertising system 100. Although the user may not necessarily bereceiving simulated environment content (e.g., if the user does notdownload or directly access code and other information related to theactual game), the user may still receive advertising content as theclient pertains to the instructions and operations necessary to accessthe advertising system 100 and for advertising content to be provided tothe system 100.

Through the provision of such a software client on physical media, avariety of parties may develop games or other simulated environmentcontent that operates on a particular end-user client device to interactwith the advertising system 100. Access to the advertising client codemay be subject to a fee charged by an operator of the advertising system100, the costs of which may be recouped by the third-party gamedeveloper who passes those costs on to advertisers 160 ₁ . . . 160 _(N)that might wish to place content in a particular video game as thepopularity and advertising value of that game is assessed.

By way of example, and without limitation, the end user client devices170 may be game consoles. Examples of commercially game consoles includethe Xbox® from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond Wash., the Wii® fromNintendo Company, Ltd of Kyoto, Japan and PlayStation® devices, such asthe PlayStaion3 from Sony Computer Entertainment of Tokyo, Japan. Xbox®is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.PlayStation® is a registered trademark of Kabushiki Kaisha Sony ComputerEntertainment of Tokyo, Japan. Wii® is a registered trademark ofNintendo Company, Ltd of Kyoto, Japan. Such game consoles are commonlycoupled to a television set or video monitor so that visual images ofthe virtual world may be presented to a user. Alternatively the clientdevices may be any other type of network capable device that can receiveand use auxiliary content. Such devices include, but are not limited tocellular telephones, personal computers, laptop computers, televisionset-top boxes, portable internet access devices, portable email devices,portable video game devices; personal digital assistants, digital musicplayers and the like. Furthermore, the client devices 170 mayincorporate the functions of two or more of the devices in the examplespreviously listed.

By way of example, the client device 170 may be configured as shown inFIG. 6, which depicts a block diagram illustrating the components of aclient device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.By way of example, and without loss of generality, the client device 300may be implemented as a computer system, such as a personal computer,video game console, personal digital assistant, or other digital device,suitable for practicing an embodiment of the invention. The clientdevice 300 may include a central processing unit (CPU) 305 configured torun software applications and optionally an operating system. The CPU305 may include one or more processing cores. By way of example andwithout limitation, the CPU 305 may be a parallel processor module, suchas a Cell Processor. An example of a Cell Processor architecture isdescribed in detail, e.g., in Cell Broadband Engine Architecture,copyright International Business Machines Corporation, Sony ComputerEntertainment Incorporated, Toshiba Corporation Aug. 8, 2005 a copy ofwhich may be downloaded at http://cell.scei.co.jp/, the entire contentsof which are incorporated herein by reference.

A memory 306 is coupled to the CPU 305. The memory 306 may storeapplications and data for use by the CPU 305. The memory 306 may be inthe form of an integrated circuit, e.g., RAM, DRAM, ROM, and the like).A computer program 301 may be stored in the memory 306 in the form ofinstructions that can be executed on the processor 305. The instructionsof the program 301 may be configured to implement, amongst other things,certain steps of a method for advertising impression enhancement, e.g.,as described above with respect to FIGS. 1A-1D and FIG. 2. By way ofexample, the impression enhancement program 301 may include instructionsto add movement to a camera path that directs a camera point-of-view(POV) toward one or more advertising targets encountered along thecamera path. The movement added to the camera path is configured toplace the advertising targets within the scene displayed on the videodisplay to increase a likelihood a number of advertising impressionsassociated with one or more of the advertising targets. The program 301may operate in conjunction with one or more instructions configured toimplement an interactive environment. By way of example, suchinstructions may be part of a main program 303, such as a video gameprogram. Alternatively, the main program 303 may be a program forinterfacing with a virtual world. The main program 303 may be configuredto display a scene of a portion of the simulated environment from thecamera POV on a video display and change the scene as the camera POVchanges in response to movement of the camera POV along a camera pathduring the user's interaction with the simulated environment. The mainprogram may include instructions for physics simulation 304, cameramanagement 307 and reporting advertising impressions 309. The mainprogram 303 may call the impression enhancement program 301, physicssimulation instructions 304, camera management instructions 307 andadvertising impression reporting instructions 309, e.g., as a functionsor subroutines.

The client device 300 may also include well-known support functions 310,such as input/output (I/O) elements 311, power supplies (P/S) 312, aclock (CLK) 313 and cache 314. The client device 300 may further includea storage device 315 that provides non-volatile storage for applicationsand data. The storage device 315 may be used for temporary or long-termstorage of auxiliary content assets 316 downloaded from a content server120. By way of example, the storage device 315 may be a fixed diskdrive, removable disk drive, flash memory device, tape drive, CD-ROM,DVD-ROM, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, UMD, or other optical storage devices.

One or more user input devices 320 may be used to communicate userinputs from one or more users to the computer client device 300. By wayof example, one or more of the user input devices 320 may be coupled tothe client device 300 via the I/O elements 311. Examples of suitableinput device 320 include keyboards, mice, joysticks, touch pads, touchscreens, light pens, still or video cameras, and/or microphones. Theclient device 300 may include a network interface 325 to facilitatecommunication via an electronic communications network 327. The networkinterface 325 may be configured to implement wired or wirelesscommunication over local area networks and wide area networks such asthe Internet. The client device 300 may send and receive data and/orrequests for files via one or more message packets 326 over the network327.

The client device 300 may further comprise a graphics subsystem 330,which may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) 335 and graphicsmemory 340. The graphics memory 340 may include a display memory (e.g.,a frame buffer) used for storing pixel data for each pixel of an outputimage. The graphics memory 340 may be integrated in the same device asthe GPU 335, connected as a separate device with GPU 335, and/orimplemented within the memory 306. Pixel data may be provided to thegraphics memory 340 directly from the CPU 305. Alternatively, the CPU305 may provide the GPU 335 with data and/or instructions defining thedesired output images, from which the GPU 335 may generate the pixeldata of one or more output images. The data and/or instructions definingthe desired output images may be stored in memory 310 and/or graphicsmemory 340. In an embodiment, the GPU 335 may be configured (e.g., bysuitable programming or hardware configuration) with 3D renderingcapabilities for generating pixel data for output images frominstructions and data defining the geometry, lighting, shading,texturing, motion, and/or camera parameters for a scene. The GPU 335 mayfurther include one or more programmable execution units capable ofexecuting shader programs.

The graphics subsystem 330 may periodically output pixel data for animage from the graphics memory 340 to be displayed on a video displaydevice 350. The video display device 350 may be any device capable ofdisplaying visual information in response to a signal from the clientdevice 300, including CRT, LCD, plasma, and OLED displays. The computerclient device 300 may provide the display device 350 with an analog ordigital signal. By way of example, the display 350 may include a cathoderay tube (CRT) or flat panel screen that displays text, numerals,graphical symbols or images. In addition, the display 350 may includeone or more audio speakers that produce audible or otherwise detectablesounds. To facilitate generation of such sounds, the client device 300may further include an audio processor 355 adapted to generate analog ordigital audio output from instructions and/or data provided by the CPU305, memory 306, and/or storage 315.

The components of the client device 300, including the CPU 305, memory306, support functions 310, data storage 315, user input devices 320,network interface 325, and audio processor 355 may be operably connectedto each other via one or more data buses 360. These components may beimplemented in hardware, software or firmware or some combination of twoor more of these.

While the above is a complete description of the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, it is possible to use various alternatives,modifications and equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the presentinvention should be determined not with reference to the abovedescription but should, instead, be determined with reference to theappended claims, along with their full scope of equivalents. Any featuredescribed herein, whether preferred or not, may be combined with anyother feature described herein, whether preferred or not. In the claimsthat follow, the indefinite article “A”, or “An” refers to a quantity ofone or more of the item following the article, except where expresslystated otherwise. The appended claims are not to be interpreted asincluding means-plus-function limitations, unless such a limitation isexplicitly recited in a given claim using the phrase “means for.”

1. In a system configured to facilitate user interaction with aninteractive environment containing one or more advertising targets, acomputer-implemented method for increasing a number of advertisingimpressions, comprising: a) displaying a scene of a portion of thesimulated environment from a camera point of view (camera POV) on avideo display; b) changing the scene as the camera POV changes inresponse to movement of the camera POV along a camera path during theuser's interaction with the simulated environment; and c) addingmovement to the camera path that directs the camera POV toward one ormore advertising targets encountered along the camera path, wherein themovement added to the camera path is configured to place the advertisingtargets within the scene displayed on the video display to increase alikelihood a number of advertising impressions associated with one ormore of the advertising targets.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising recording one or more advertising impressions associated withone or more of the advertising targets during the user's interactionwith the simulated environment.
 3. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising reporting a number of advertising impressions during theuser's interaction with the simulated environment to a reporting server.4. The method of claim 1, wherein c) includes adding the movement to thecamera path independent of a user-initiated movement command orinteraction with the simulated environment.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein c) includes adding the movement to the camera path to movementof the camera POV resulting from a user-initiated movement commands orinteraction with the simulated environment.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein c) includes adding a tilt or pan to the camera path to directthe camera POV toward the one or more advertising targets.
 7. The methodof claim 1 wherein c) includes adding a shift of a location of thecamera POV to the camera path.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein c)includes reducing a rate of movement of the camera POV for a sufficientperiod of time that an advertising target stays visible in the scenedisplayed on the video display for a period of time long enough togenerate an impression.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the userinteracts with the simulated environment through control of an avatarrepresented in the simulated environment.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the camera POV is chosen to show the avatar within the simulatedenvironment.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the movement added tothe camera path is limited in such a way that the avatar stays withinthe scene displayed on the video display.
 12. The method of claim 9,wherein the camera POV is chosen so that the scene is displayed from theavatar's point of view.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein c) includesadding a transient movement to the avatar that results in a change ofthe camera POV.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein the simulatedenvironment includes a video game.
 15. The method of claim 1 wherein c)includes determining an initial camera path for a time interval Δt basedon user input and/or a state of the interactive environment; identifyingone or missed impressions for the time interval Δt based on the initialcamera path; calculating a deviation of the camera path from the initialcamera path, wherein the deviation is configured to capture animpression that would have been missed if the initial camera path wereto be followed during the time interval Δt; calculating a revised camerapath by combining the deviation with the initial camera path.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 wherein c) further includes limiting an amount and/orrate of the deviation of the camera path in a manner calculated to avoiddisplaying the scene in way that would appear nausea-inducing, jarringor unnatural to the user.
 17. The method of claim 15 wherein thedeviation from the camera path is configured such that the revisedcamera path places an advertising target within a field of view of thevideo display for a sufficient time and at a sufficient resolution andviewing angle to generate an advertising impression.
 18. The method ofclaim 15 wherein identifying one or missed impressions includesidentifying a situation in which an advertising target would be at leastpartly visible in the scene displayed on the video display in theinterval Δt but either (i) obscured by another object in the scenedisplayed on the video display to a degree that an advertisingimpression would not be generated, (ii) not visible in the scenedisplayed for a sufficient time to generate an advertising impression,(iii) visible at too large a viewing angle to generate an advertisingimpression, (iv) visible but with insufficient resolution to generate anadvertising impression, or some combination of two or more of (i), (ii),(iii) or (iv).
 19. The method of claim 15 wherein identifying one ormore missed impressions includes identifying a situation in which anadvertising target would be outside a frame of the scene displayed onthe video display but sufficiently close to the camera path that, with adeviation of the camera path that would not cause the scene displayed onthe video display to appear nausea-inducing, jarring or unnatural to theuser, the advertising target could be placed in the frame: (a) withoutbeing obscured by another object in the scene displayed on the videodisplay to a degree that an advertising impression would not begenerated, (b) for a sufficient time to generate an advertisingimpression, (c) at a viewing angle small enough to generate anadvertising impression, and (d) with sufficient resolution to generatean advertising impression.
 20. The method of claim 15 whereincalculating a deviation of the camera path from the initial camera pathincludes determining a shift in a location of the camera POV and/or atilt and/or pan of the camera POV that would place an advertising targetassociated with a missed impression within a frame of the scenedisplayed on the video display (a) without being obscured by anotherobject in the scene displayed on the video display to a degree that anadvertising impression would not be generated, (b) for a sufficient timeto generate an advertising impression, (c) at a viewing angle smallenough to generate an advertising impression, and (d) with sufficientresolution to generate an advertising impression.
 21. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising determining whether displaying the sceneaccording to the revised camera path during the time interval Δt wouldcause the scene displayed on the video display to appearnausea-inducing, jarring or unnatural to the user, and either:displaying the scene according to the revised camera path during thetime interval Δt if it is determined that displaying the scene accordingto the revised camera path during the time interval Δt would not causethe scene displayed on the video display to appear nausea-inducing,jarring or unnatural to the user; or displaying the scene according tothe initial camera path during the time interval Δt if it is determinedthat displaying the scene according to the revised camera path duringthe time interval Δt would cause the scene displayed on the videodisplay to appear nausea-inducing, jarring or unnatural to the user. 22.The method of claim 15, further comprising associating an attractionstrength with one or more of the advertising targets and whereincalculating a deviation of the camera path from the initial camera pathincludes taking the attraction strength into account when calculating adeviation of a position, velocity, orientation or rate of change oforientation of the camera POV.
 23. A client device configured toincreasing a number of advertising impressions during user interactionwith an interactive environment containing one or more advertisingtargets, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; oneor more instructions embodied in memory for execution by the processor,the instructions being configured to implement a method for increasingthe number of advertising impressions, the instructions comprising: a)one or more instructions that, when executed, cause a scene of a portionof the simulated environment to be displayed from a camera point of view(camera POV); b) one or more instructions that, when executed, cause thescene to change as the camera POV changes in response to movement of thecamera POV along a camera path during the user's interaction with thesimulated environment; and c) one or more instructions that, whenexecuted, add movement to the camera path that directs the camera POVtoward one or more advertising targets encountered along the camerapath, wherein the movement added to the camera path is configured toplace the advertising targets within the scene displayed to increase alikelihood a number of advertising impressions associated with one ormore of the advertising targets.
 24. A computer-readable medium havingembodied therein one or more computer-readable instructions that, whenexecuted, implement a method for increasing a number of advertisingimpressions during user interaction with an interactive environmentcontaining one or more advertising targets, a computer, the instructionscomprising: a) one or more instructions that, when executed, cause ascene of a portion of the simulated environment to be displayed from acamera point of view (camera POV) on a video display; b) one or moreinstructions that, when executed, cause the scene to change as thecamera POV changes in response to movement of the camera POV along acamera path during the user's interaction with the simulatedenvironment; and c) one or more instructions that, when executed, addmovement to the camera path that directs the camera POV toward one ormore advertising targets encountered along the camera path, wherein themovement added to the camera path is configured to place the advertisingtargets within the scene displayed on the video display to increase alikelihood a number of advertising impressions associated with one ormore of the advertising targets.
 25. An apparatus for increasing anumber of advertising impressions, in a system configured to facilitateuser interaction with an interactive environment containing one or moreadvertising targets, the apparatus comprising: a) means for displaying ascene of a portion of the simulated environment from a camera point ofview (camera POV) on a video display; b) means for changing the scene asthe camera POV changes in response to movement of the camera POV along acamera path during the user's interaction with the simulatedenvironment; and c) means for adding movement to the camera path thatdirects the camera POV toward one or more advertising targetsencountered along the camera path, wherein the movement added to thecamera path is configured to place the advertising targets within thescene displayed on the video display to increase a likelihood a numberof advertising impressions associated with one or more of theadvertising targets.